DUBAI: Pakistan has unveiled its playing XI for the highly anticipated encounter against arch-rivals India in Asia Cup 2025 today.
Pakistan and India are all set for the high voltage clash of the year in Asia Cup 2025 at Dubai International Stadium, Dubai. The arch rivals come into the Dubai clash in form.
In the head to head contest, India holds a dominant edge in T20Is, winning 10 of 13 matches.
This will be the first meeting between the rivals since their Pakistan’s historic victory in the military conflict earlier this year.
The event is being hosted by the BCCI in the UAE. Officials were under pressure to boycott the match against Pakistan but ignored it and went ahead. Due to media hype over non-issues, Indian cricketers are under extra pressure.
According to sources, the green team is opting to retain the winning combination from their opening game against Oman.
Sources revealed that that a crucial strategy meeting between Pakistan team management and captain Salman Ali Agha concluded with the decision to stick to the same lineup.
While discussions were held regarding the possibility of resting key pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi and spinner Abrar Ahmed, both players have been retained.
Captain Salman Ali Agha reportedly showed strong faith in Shaheen’s form and fitness, ensuring his inclusion in the must-win match.
There was also a brief consideration to replace Abrar Ahmed with Haris Rauf, but the team decided to back the spinner given the pitch conditions in Dubai.
“The team believes in continuity and wants to build on the winning momentum. No last-minute changes are expected unless pitch or weather conditions drastically change,” a team insider told sources.
Squads
Pakistan: Salman Agha (capt), Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Rauf, Hasan Ali, Hasan Nawaz, Hussain Talat, Khushdil Shah, Mohammad Haris (wk), Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Wasim, Sahibzada Farhan, Saim Ayub, Salman Mirza, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Sufiyan Muqeem.
India: Suryakumar Yadav (c), Shubman Gill (vc), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Sanju Samson (wk), Harshit Rana, Rinku Singh.
Also read: Key players to watch out for in Pakistan-India Asia Cup clash
